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Fox Fridays



Fox Fridays is a weekly, low-stress workshop series introducing the WashU community to overlooked or lesser-known tools, resources, processes, and ideas. It provides a platform for students to develop hybridized practices of creative output that transcend discipline, medium, and experience.

To sign up for a workshop, click the registration link in the workshop details. Everyone goes on the wait list. Then, your participation will be confirmed the week of the workshop via email.



Upcoming Fox Fridays Workshops


Apr 10, 1 – 3:50pm • Walker patio/courtyard

The workshop will open with a short presentation of paper pulp, including different techniques such as casting, printing, and embedding material in paper. Students will then learn how to make papermaking screens, and paper pulp using discarded material. The instructor will cover and paper process additives such as methyl cellulose, formation aid, and pigments. There will be an emphasis on the unpredictability of how the paper will dry as well as how the mechanics of the process (making it within one session) allow for the artist to embrace play and improvisation in their practice. Participants will then collaborate on color and pulp consistency to create their own paper pulp. Using hands, squeeze bottles, and other basic tools, they will apply the pulp to their screens to create a unique design. Collaboration will be encouraged. Students are able to make as many paper pieces as space allows, but each person will be able to take away at least one piece.

Instructor: Dallas Spears is a multidisciplinary artist from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Her tactile compositions are created with scavenged materials, primarily discarded paper, which highlight joy, craft, and play as practice in the face of mounting environmental and societal disaster. She is currently an MFA candidate at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.


Past Fox Fridays Workshops



FAQ


Every Friday, one resource facility or tool space transforms into a classroom to encourage a new culture of play, experimentation, and cross-disciplinary making and dialogue across the Sam Fox and WashU campus.

Fox Fridays are about exploring new mediums, tools, and ideas, refining skills, and diving deep into alternative processes. It gives students opportunities to learn from different types of makers and different perspectives in an environment free of the stress and anxiety of studio production. It encourages the development of communities and collaborations which bridge traditional disciplines and establishes relationships outside of defined studio practices. Most of all, Fox Fridays is about celebrating the immense resources available at the Sam Fox School, sharing knowledge, and encouraging collaborative experimentation. So pick a workshop, sign up, and forge a gateway to new possibilities.

Fox Fridays are as much about culture as they are about tools. Everyone is stressed. Friday is (hopefully!) a less stressful day. Before the anxiety of Monday starts to creep up, Fox Fridays carve out a little space outside the anxiety of studio and classes. Take a few hours to try a new process, learn a new skill, experiment with a medium you have been interested in but couldn’t find time to enroll in a class. Maybe it helps augment your current studio work, maybe not. The point is to try, experiment and forge new pathways in your creative practice.

Workshops are open to anyone in the WashU community interested in exploring new creative outputs. They are free and first-come.

These workshops are generously funded by Randy and Sally Knight. Don’t worry about materials, equipment, etc. Just sign up and show up.

No. While credit is not bestowed, knowledge and experience are. These workshops are intended to provide quick, effortless, and fun investigations into things that might not ordinarily find their way into your studio practice. By investing in workshops with new tools and resources, you may find alternative methods that might later influence your course selection and studio practice.

Yes and No. Workshops are not immediate keys to free access, but rather, gateways to form further contact points and creative pedagogies. Workshop take-aways include direct connection to classes offered in that particular medium/process as well as a way to establish contact points with experts in the workshop resource on campus. For many, the next best step might include enrolling in a future class, attending an additional workshop, or participating in classes offered through your curriculum. This ‘first date’ with on campus experts provides an experimental insight into processes you may be unfamiliar with. The workshop should put faces to spaces and make approaching about individual projects more fluid.

Absolutely! If space allows we highly encourage students of varying expertise to enroll. These are not just spaces for novices but also for those previously familiar to learn new things and also use equipment under the supervision of expert instructors.

Speak with your professor. Especially on the Sam Fox campus, many are aware and supportive of these offerings. If the workshop would benefit your studio practice many professors may be amenable to your attendance.


Sponsors


Fox Fridays is generously supported by Randy and Sally Knight.